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Effectiveness of two annual, single‐dose mass drug administrations of diethylcarbamazine alone or in combination with albendazole on soil‐transmitted helminthiasis in filariasis elimination programme
Author(s) -
Mani T. R.,
Rajendran R.,
Sunish I. P.,
Munirathinam A.,
Arunachalam N.,
Satyanarayana K.,
Dash A. P.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
tropical medicine and international health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.056
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1365-3156
pISSN - 1360-2276
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3156.2004.01298.x
Subject(s) - diethylcarbamazine , lymphatic filariasis , mass drug administration , albendazole , helminthiasis , medicine , filariasis , wuchereria bancrofti , population , environmental health , immunology , surgery , helminths
Summary A longitudinal community‐trial on the control of soil‐transmitted helminths (STHs), as part of a lymphatic filariasis elimination campaign, was taken up in two revenue blocks of southern India in the years 2001 and 2002 to assess the impact of two annual single‐dose mass drug administration (MDA) of diethylcarbamazine (DEC) + albendazole (ALB) with that of DEC alone. The prevalences and intensities of STHs were studied among cross‐sectional samples of school children aged 9–10 years by using the Kato‐Katz technique at baseline and 11 months after each MDA. The combined drug mass treatment produced a higher reduction in the prevalence (RIP) (51–77%) and the egg reduction rate (ERR) (92–98%) compared with 12–15% RIP and 58–62% ERR of DEC alone mass treatment. The effect of two‐drug therapy after two annual treatments was relatively long lasting as shown by RIP and ERR indicating that the reinfection rates were relatively lower in this approach than single‐drug therapy. This study demonstrates that mass drug co‐administration of DEC + ALB in Global Programme for Elimination of Lymphatic Filariasis (GPELF) targeted at the community had a synergistic and sustainable effect against soil‐transmitted helminthiasis and provided considerable ‘beyond filariasis’ benefits. The additional advantages accrued to the community underscore the importance of scaling‐up GPELF to cover the entire population at risk.